My Thanksgiving was surprisingly chill and relaxing (or as relaxing as a day can be with a toddler), which given that my kid didn’t nap a single minute and we somehow (again) screwed up the timing of our (easy, practically ready made) dinner so we didn’t eat until 7pm was kind of a miracle.

(parenthesis time! Yay!)

But still, it was a good day, complete with elastic pants and good thoughts of thanks, gratitude and reflection on our families, blessings and lives filled with love.

To balance out all that schmoopy-ness yesterday, today we had epic tantrums, toilets & tubs bubbling and backing up, and dogs vomiting. But at least I wasn’t at work?

Ah holidays, balancing the good with the absurd to keep it real.

Watching yourself in a mirror doing jumping jacks in JUST a sports bra and shorts will either be the most motivating or the most soul-crushing thing imaginable.

Proceed at your own risk.

It’s Friday.

My brain is fried.

I am counting down the minutes until tonight, when I shall feast on pizza and beer while watching TV.

I am impatiently waiting to leave work behind for 2 days.

I am anxiously awaiting the chance to hang with this little guy.

TGIF indeed.

I don’t know whether it’s the time change, what with the darkness and the ridiculously bad traffic since everyone is now driving in the dark  and the leaving the office in the dark and oh did I mention the dark (as an aside, why does a one hour time difference feel like 4.5 hours at 7pm?), but I’ve been…blah. Tired and listless and irritable and snippy and uninterested in…stuff. TV? Meh. Books? Meh. Work? Meh. Anything beyond just sitting here slack jawed? Meh.

But if I think about it, it’s been going on longer than just a week. I’ve kind of felt like this for a while. Maybe it’s stress (it’s probably stress). Maybe it has to do with the season changes (it probably has something to do with the season changes). Maybe it’s frustration (it’s probably frustration). Maybe I’m just wallowing (I’m probably just wallowing).

I’ve been trying to do some things to see if I can feel less blah. I can’t do anything about some of the stress or frustration or the season changes, but I’m hoping to can help myself out some other ways. I’ve been trying to drink more water. I’ve been trying to work out 3 times a week. I’ve been trying to go for walks at lunch, or at least go outside. I’ve been trying to go to bed a little earlier. I’ve been trying to dance in my kitchen with my kid even when I don’t feel like it. I’ve been trying to breath more and swallow my frustrations less.

We’ll see. So far, I’m still blah, but between the time change, the news, the weather changes, and work stuff, maybe that’s not surprising. I probably just need to give it more time. But it’s hard to keep working on that stuff when I’d rather just sit here. Slack-jawed. And meh.

1. If you see a child being raped, you step in to stop it. Immediately. And then call the cops.
2. If you are afraid for your life while seeing a child being raped, you call the cops. Immediately.
3. You do not, under any circumstances, LEAVE THAT CHILD BEING RAPED WITHOUT DOING SOMETHING.
4. If you realize later that you think you saw a child being raped/assaulted, you call the cops.
5. If you have been told that someone has been seen raping a child, you do not sweep it under the rug, you investigate and call the cops.

Look, this isn’t a grey area. Children need adults to protect them. And if you, as an adult, see or hear of another adult preying on a child, SACK UP AND HELP THAT KID. Period. I don’t care if your job is at stake, I don’t care if your football program is at stake, I don’t care if it’s icky and uncomfortable, be a decent human being and HELP THAT KID.

I cannot believe that this is something that needs to be explained.